Rotary assembling-machine.



W.G. SLUSON & W. W. IVIACFARREN.'

ROTARY AssEMBLlNG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED lAN.3l. 1911. I

Patented Oct. 31,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W15. sLAusoN @L vv. vv. MACFARREN.

ROTARY AS'SEMBLING MACHINE.

APPLmATloN FILED 1AN.31.1911.

Patentedt 00's. 31, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

run sratrus atrunr ou FUE.

WILLIAM G'. SLAUSON, 0F PAINESVILLE, OHIO, AND WALTER W. MACFARREN, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA; SAID MACFARREN ASSIGNOR TO SAID SLAUSON.

ROTARY ASSEMBLING-MACHIN E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct.. 31, 1916..

Application led January 31, 1.911.l Serial No. 605,804.

7 1o all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM SLAU- have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Rotary Assembling-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to gathering or stuing machines for use in making books, pamphlets, etc., or in assembling the several sections of a Sunday newspaper.

Broadly speaking, our invention consists of a series of holders each containing one of the sections to be assembled, a. means for dis* charging one of the sections from each holder in timed relation to the other, means for delivering said section to a conveyer operating in timed relation to the aforesaid means, and in means for opening one or more folded sections and placingy them around the other sections to form a cover.

A prime object of our invention especially for newspaper work is to provide mechanism which will accomplish the above results at high speed, as with modern printing presses the various'sections are delivered at the rate of many thousand per hour. Our improved machine will therefore assemble and deliver several hundred complete bundles per .minute.

To these ends our invention comprises the various devices hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in wliich Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the complete machine; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic elevation of the conveyer and delivery rollers. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a part of a portion of the receiving saddle. Fig.` 4 is an enlarged cross section through the machine. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view 4similai' to Fig. 4 of a modification thereof.' Fig. 6 isa longitudinal section through one of the rotary suckers. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a bundle of gathered sheets on the conveyer. Fig. 8 is a similar diagram show- 1 the endless belt 3 mounted on the the preferred construction is shown in Fig. 4 in which the bottom of the chute comprises pulleys 4 land having the intermediate supporting roller 6. rllhe pulley 4 is mounted on a burgh, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania,

ing a cover dropping over the gatheredI sheets.

rlhe machine consists of a series of chutes 1 containing the sheets 2 standing on a folded edge therein. rfhe chutes l may be provided with a plain bottom of anydesired material, the smoother' the better, but

shaft 7 which also carries a small brake drum 8. A brake shoe 9 is fastened to a lever 10 which'is pivoted on the pin 11. A weight 12 adjustably mounted on the lever 10 Serves to vary the braking effect. At the lower end of the pile of sheets 2 there is mounted a rotary sucker 13, a rotary sucker 14 and a gripping roller 15. Between the suckers 13 and 14 there is placed a shaft 1G carrying several pulleys 17 and a gear 18. The gear 18 drives teeth 19 upon the suckers 18 and 14. The gripping roller 15 is driven by the gear teeth 20 upon the sucker 14. A third sucker 21 is placed adjacent to the sucker 14 and driven thereby. The shafts 22 and 23 are provided with several pulleys 24 and 25 respectively; these pulleys being in the same vertical planes as the pulleys 17, and the grooves 26 in the suckers 14 and 21. Small belts or tapes 27 run over the pulleys 17 and 24 and the sucker 14 and similar tapes 28 run over the pulleys 25 and the sucker 21. A stationary guide or saddlep 29 made preferably of thin sheet metal is supported by the standards 3() secured to the frame 31 of the machine. The upper edge of the saddle 29 is serrated as shown in Fig.

2; one of these sei-rations is opposite each pulley to which power may be applied to drive the whole machine. The sucker 13 operates merely to strip the sheets 2 off the pile, while the sucker 14 assists in this operation and also carries the paper around approximately a half circumference and delivers it between itself and sucker 21.

All the suckers are of similar construction, the difference being in the amount of angular travel during which the suction effect .is operated. All the suckers consist of a shell 40'mounted on annular bearings 41 mounted on a tube 44; the tube 44 is 'mounted lon sliding guides 45 controlled by the springs 46, which act to keep the valve 43 in close contact with the bore of the shell 40. The valve 43 is provided with a port 47 communicating with the interior of the tube 44 through which a partial vacuum may be created by any desired means.

Small ports 48 are out in the shell 40. The

poits 48 may be lcalled sucker ports and the port 47 the suction-port, and there being a partial vacuum maintained constantly in port 47, there will be a partial vacuum created in each of the ports 48 as they come into communication with the port 47 which will be broken when the port 48 reaches the relief port 49. In sucker 13 the port 47 is merely wide enough to cover two of the sucker ports 48: in this way the moving force of the sucker 13 is confinedto a direction tangent to its circumference. The Y sucker ports 48 cover about one fourth of the shell 40, this being sufficient tofmove the paper until it is engaged by other means. In sucker 14 however the sucker ports 48 extend about half way aroundthe circumference and the port 50 in the valve 51 is correspondingly wider the suction effect being maintained for about a half revolution. In sucker 21 the valve 52 may be a duplicate of the valve43. The suckers 13 and 14 together strip the sheet off the end of the pile; after it moves a slight amount it is gripped between the sucker 14 and the gripping roller 15 and carried around between the suckers 14 and 21. If it is merely desired .to gather the papersas shown in Fig. 7 the sucker 21 may be made inoperative by cutting oil' the suction thereto in which case the papers would be delivered between the tape 27 and the saddle 29, and would fall von the flights In case however, it is desired to put a cover over the pile of sections as shown at 54, in Fig. 8 the sucker 211s made operative and it draws one edge of the folded sheettoward itself, the other edge being drawn toward the sucker 14 which results in the cover being delivered astraddle of the saddle 29 and any gathered sections thereon, the downconiing edges being guided b v the tapes 27 and 28. In case it is desired to have each section except the irst inclose all the previous sections, so that all the sections except the first are in efl'eet covers, all the suckers may be operated to produce. this result and each delivered bundle would be a con'ibination ofy inserts. The dotted rectangle 54 represents a completed bundle pist about to be discharged froln the machine.

'ing the loose edges may not do so.

.the case with the cover section for a news:

paper, it will be seen that the suckers 14 and 21 can act directly only on the outside thickness of paper at the end of the cover containing the loose edges; the end of the cover containing the folded edge Will open with certainty but the end of the cover hav- F or this reason the saddle 29 has been serrated as shown in Fig. 2, the high points 55' of the saddle corresponding to the folded edge of the cover and the low portions 56 to the loose edge of the cover this giving the loose edges of the covei` more time to open.

In addition to the aliove, we provide nozzles 57 supplied by an air pipe 58 for blowing a jet of air between the folded edges of the cover as they are delivered from between the suckers 14 and 21, to insure the complete separation of the inner sheets of the cover.

The assembled papers are delivered olf the left end of the saddle 29 as shown in Fig. 1 and passed betwe n a pair of guides 59 which lead into the elivery rollers 60,

4which 'deliver them .into any suitable rethe shaft 33 is such that the conveyer chains 52 move an amount equal to the distance from center to center of chutes 1 for each revolution of the suckers so that in passing aseries of chutes one paper'from each chute will be deliyered at the same point on the conveyer chains 52 to form an assembled pile.

In Fig. 5 we have shown a modification of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 in which separate stripping suckers 61 are provided to strip the sheet off' the pile; these suckers would 'be duplicates of sucker 13. A pair of gripping-rollers 62 engages the sheet after it is moved a couple of inches and pushes the saine through the curved guide G3 which delivers the edge of the sheet between a pair of opening suckers (i4- whieh may be duplicates of sucker 21. The lsaddle 29 and the tapes 27 and 28 may be the salue as previously shown. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 5 four suckers are required to do the work of the three shown in Fig. 4 but in many cases this arrange- `nient might have practical advantages as the relation between the lower end of the pile of papers and the saddle 29 can be varied greatly to suit the conditions of service.

Froin the. above it will be seen that we have provided simple and elicicnt mechanisln for the purpose described, the details of which may be widely varied from those iaoaeoe lshown `without departing from the spirit of our invention as covered by the following claims.

We' claim- 1. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising an inclined chute for holding a pile of sheets, a plurality of continuously rotating suckers in contact with the end sheet of the pile and rotating in the same direction at the same speed, and provided with a series of longitudinal ports in the circumference of each of said suckers and parallel to the axes thereof, in combination with Yineans foropening a folded sheet.

2. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising an inclined chute for holding a pile of sheets, a plurality of rotary suckers 'in contact with the end sheet of the pile and rotating in the same direction at the same speed, each of said suckers having an internal stationary valve, a gear on each of said suckers, and a gear in driving connection with both of said gears on said suckers in combination with means for Opening a folded sheet.

3. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising an inclined chute for holding a pile of sheets, a plurality of rotary suckers in contact with the end sheet of the pile and rotating in the same direction at the same speed, a valve in the lower sucker having a narrow port conning the suction effect practically to the plane of the sheet, and a valve in the upper sucker having a comparatively wide port whereby the upper edge of the sheet is carried part way around the sucker before being released in combination with means for opening a folded sheet.

4;. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising an inclined chute for holding a pile of sheets, a continuously rotating sucker at the lower end of the pile and in contact with the end sheet thereof,"

a valve in said sucker controlling the suction and a conveyer to which the said sucker delivers the sheets in combination with means for opening a folded sheet."

5. A machine for assembling newspapers or the. like comprising an inclined chute for holding a pile of sheets, a bottom for said chute comprising an endless belt mounted on freely moving rollers whereby the sheets maybe moved down the inclined chute by gravity, a Continuously rotating sucker in contact with the upper edge of the sheet at the lower end of the pile, and a positively driven rollery in contact with said sucker whereby the sheet will be gripped between the sucker and the roller in combination with means foi opening a folded sheet.

6. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a support for a pile of folded sheets, a pair of parallel rotary suckers, the first sucker being in contact with the end sheet of the pile to engage the end sheet, and means for rotating the pair of suckers so that their adjacent surfaces run together, whereby the first. sucker will engage one fold of the sheet, move the'sheet off the pile and deliver the other fold to the second sucker after which each sucker pulls one fold of the sheet away from theother fold to cause a separation between the folds.

7. IA machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a series of sheet holders each provided with means for opening a folded sheet of paper comprising two parallel rotary suckers close together and running with their upper surfaces approaching each other, means for delivering the unfolded edges of a folded sheet between said suckers, whereby each of said suckers engagesone of said folds and carries it away from the opposite fold, and a conveyer operating below said suckers having upwardly extending flights over which said opened sheet may fall with a fold on each side of said flights, means for drivin@` said suckers and mechanism connected with said driving means for operating said conveyer at a fixed speed relative to the speed of said suckers.

8. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a pair of oppositely rotating suckers close together, means for presenting between the suckers the unfolded edges of a sheet, a set of idler pulleys below each of said suckers and' a set of tapes passing over each of said suckers andover one of said sets of idler pulleys for limiting the opening of the sheet.

9. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a pair of oppositely rotating suckers geared together and on the same level, means for presenting between the suckers, the unfolded edges of a sheet, a 'set idler pulleys below and tothe left of the right hand sucker, a secondvset of idler pulleys below and to the right of the right hand sucker, a set of tapes passing over .the right hand sucker and the right hand idlers, and a second set of tapes passing over the left hand sucker and idlers, whereby the opening between the folds is limited bythe tapes and the sheet is assisted in its downward travel by frictional contact with the tapes,

l0. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a pair of rotary suckers close together for opening a folded sheet, means for 'delivering said sheet tosaid suckers, an inverted V-shaped support directly under said suckers, and a conveyer under each leg of the support for removing the sheets therefrom.

l1. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a pair of rotary suckers close together for opening a folded sheet, means for delivering said sheet to said suckers, an inverted V-shaped support directly under said suckers, a conveyer chain under each leg of the support, and ll-shaped flights Milt) thereon to support an edge of the sheet, said conveyer operating parallel to said support.

12. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a series of inclined ,or the like comprising a series of inclined. chutes for holding piles of sheets, a continuously rotating sucker in contact with the end sheet of each pile for stripping the sheets off the pile, a conveyer operating past said chutes, means for dropping said sheets on said conveyer, and a pair of oppositely rotating suckers at certain of said chutes arranged to open a folded sheet and to drop the-same over a bundle of sheets taken up by the conveyer from the preceding chutes, to form a cover therefor.

14. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a series of inclinedl chutes for holding piles of sheets, a continuously rotatingl sucker in contact with the end sheet of each pile for stripping the sheets oif the pile, a saddle, a conveyer beneath the same, means for dropping single sheets simultaneously upon the conveyer from'several of the chutes, said sheets leaning against either side ofthe saddle and oppositely rotating suckers at certain of the chutes located above said saddle for opening a folded sheet whereby it straddles the saddle and any gathered sheets thereon to form a cover for said sheets.

15. A .machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a series of sheet holders, a continuously rotating sucker at each of said holders for withdrawing the sheets and discharging them at alined points, means at some of said holders for opening the sheets as discharged, a conveyer for removing the gathered sheets, and a pair of rollers on. vertical axes at the delivery end of the conveyer between which the completed bundle is passed.

16. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising an inclined chute for holding a pile of folded sheets, a movable belt forming a bottom therefor, a rotary sucker for successively stripping the sheets oif the end of the pile and discharging them with the unfolded edges down, means for opening the fold, and guiding means above and below said sucker for guiding the sheets.

17. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising an inclined chute for holding a pile of folded sheets, la movable belt forming a bottom therefor, a rotary sucker for successively stripping the sheets ofi' the end of the pile and discharging them with the unfolded edges down, means for opening the fold, guiding means above and below said sucker for guiding the sheets and a friction brake connected to said belt for controlling the feed of the pile.

18. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a series of sheet holders, means at each of said holders for stripping the sheets off the pile, means for separately discharging the sheets at alined points of delivery, a stationary guide having a section like an inverted letter V, a conveying chain under eac of the lower points of the V` adapted to support the lower edges of the sheet and means for driving said chains in timed relation to the means for discharging the sheets.

19. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a series of sheet-holders, means at each of said holders foi` stripping the sheets off the pile, means for separately discharging the sheets, means at some of said holders for opening the sheets as dischargedga stationary guide over which the opened sheets fall and against which the unopened sheets lean, a conveyer under said guide for moving the sheets along the guide and means for closing in the folds of the outer sheet about the inner sheets.

20. A machine for assembling newspapers or the like comprising a series of sheet holders, means for withdrawing the sheets and discharging them at alined points, and a conveyer operating continuously under said points to receive the sheets, sai d conveyer being provided With iights for supporting the edges of the sheets.

VILLIAM G. SLAUSON. WALTER W. MACFARREN.

lVitnesses z CHAs. Los'rERMAN, Rosn NEVIN. 

